Thursday, July 14, 2016

The Life-Giving Spring, Balikli – Constantinople

A famous shrine of Constantinople
is the Life-Giving Spring (Zoodochos Pege), which is located outside the wall
of the City, in the area known today as Balikli. There are two versions of a
very old tradition which give us the information we know in regards to the
origins of this ancient and significant shrine.

‘According to the first, related
by the historian Procopius, Justinian (527-565) while hunting in a beautiful
verdant part of the land with many trees and much water, had the vision of a
small chapel with a large crowd of people and a priest in front of a spring. It
is the spring of miracles, he was told, whereupon the Emperor built a monastery
at the site using surplus materials from the church of Hagia Sophia. Cedrenus
records that the monastery was built in 560.

The second version, narrated by
the chronicler Nicephoros Callistos, says that the Emperor Leo I (457-474),
when still a simple soldier, met at the Golden Gate a blind man who asked him
for a drink of water. As he looked around for water, a voice directed him to
the spring and enjoined him to build a church on the site when he would become
emperor. Callistos describes this great church in detail «Description of the
holy church of the Pege erected by Leo», P. G. Migne, vol. 147, 73-77), but the
description agrees more with the church built by Justinian. It is historically
confirmed that Zenon, Hegumen «of the house of the most holy and glorious Virgin
Mary and Mother of God at Pege», participated in the Council of Constantinople,
convened by the Patriarch Menas (536-552) in 536.

Zoodochos Pege (i.e. Life-giving
Fount) is an epithet of the Holy Virgin and Her representation as Zoodochos
Pege is related to the sacred spring. It soon became very popular and this type
of icon spread throughout the Orthodox world, particularly in places where a
spring was believed to be hagiasma. In the 9th century, Joseph the Hymnographer
gave for the first time the title «Zoodochos Pege» to a hymn for the Mother of
God.

A marble fountain, from which
water flows, occupies the centre of the icon. Above, the Theotokos is holding
Christ who makes the sign of blessing. Two angels hovering over Her head carry
a scroll inscribed with the verse: «Hail! That you bear. Hail! That you are».
Around the fountain the emperor and many ailing people are shown, in a variety
of postures, being sprinkled with Holy Water. According to the tradition, a
small pond with fish is painted to the side. Actually, it is the fish that have
given its present name to the locality, for Balikli in Turkish means «a place
with fish».

The Zoodochos Pege type of icon
is found in many variations in all the Orthodox regions. Miniatures, mosaics,
icons, woodcuts, copperplates have been in great demand these last centuries.’[1]

About Me

I have studied Theology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Theology, International Relations at the University of London (Queen Mary). My Master's Thesis was published as a book: 'The Aegean Sea Dispute Between Greece and Turkey - The Consequences for NATO and the EU'. For more information see: http://www.akakia.net/el/the-aegean-sea-dispute-between-greece-and-turkey
I have also studied Byzantine Music in Athens and I am currently undertaking a research on the “Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius and its contribution towards Anglican – Orthodox Relations”, at the University of Winchester.
I also represent the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain at the A.E.C.A. If you wish to contact me you can email me: demetrifs1@yahoo.com